This week's story is one of Tom's favorites, which he teaches often as an antidote to his usual depressing fare. Though it's debatable whether D'Ambrosio's story of a man caring for his psychologically troubled son is really a happy one? We talk about whether "reading as a writer" ruins your understanding of what non-writers might want to read. We also talk about some of history's (and pop culture's) worst dads. And we take a question from a listener about whether the way a person falls in love changes over time.

Duras wrote this short, 110-page novel late in her career, in 1984, claiming it was "purely autobiographical," which created a bit of a scandal in certain corners, since the plot revolves around an affair a 15-year-old girl carries on with a 27-year-old man in what was then French Indochina.

We talk about the perhaps unconventional power dynamics of that romantic relationship, Duras's mother and brothers, who also feature heavily in the book, and short novels more generally. We also see if we can make heads or tails of some grad-school questions about this book, and Tom's got another installment of Raccoon News.

This week we revisit a story about adultery from Lorrie Moore's debut story collection, Self-Help. We talk about Moore's strengths as a story writer, the relative ethics of adultery, and why we both use Moore's work in our classes.

Also this week: we answer a question from a listener about their upcoming nuptials, and we learn about whether pets can, in fact, love their owners.

Tom tries to get Mike to enjoy some science fiction, and Mike says: no, thank you. We discuss predictions of the future, annoying robots, 90s slang, and information overload. Also this week, a new edition of Fan Fiction Corner, featuring a very sexy story set in the Nintendo universe.

For more, including links to things we talked about in the show, visit us online at bookfightpod.com.

Ths week we're discussing the David Sedaris story, "I Like Guys," from his book Naked. You can listen to an audio recording of Sedaris reading the story here, via This American Life. We also talk about America's favorite TV couples, and how much bickering in a relationship is too much. Plus a new theme song, and advice for children!